Felix and the Mythologies

Felix, qui potest rerum cognoscere causas

Virgil, Georgics 490:II

Ange Menges: C'est une  région tatouée ? :-)

Cherry Manga: pretty creatures everywhere ♥

Shapeshifter, a region famed across opensim, is now on OSGrid. 

Its creator? The well known artist of many names - in RL, she is Elif Ayiter, in SL she's best known as Alpha Auer, but here in opensim she goes by the name FeliX Ringtail. 

The region is  complex, detailed, varied. On the ground level, the landscape is divided into a pair of islands and all the installations make up a story, which you can read here. In the sky are one-off elements, defined by FeliX as 'not really having a story' but they invite flights of fancy, dreamlike motions of the imagination, just the same.

FeliX Ringtail: the first level is called Mythologies, which is just a sort of world for mythological creatures of many cultures, and it has a few sky islands atached to it, they are all on the teleporter. Then the next level is called "there be dragons", which is city type thing with lots of dragons

FeliX Ringtail

Tosha Tyran: sounds dangerous

Lavia Lavine: I love dragons

FeliX Ringtail: then there is the Blueprint City, which if you came to Shapeshifter before you will already know, that is the oldest build. Then finally on this island there is something called 'The Bridge', and then there is the second island, to which you have to fly to I'm afraid.

Thirza Ember: where will you take us first?

FeliX Ringtail: well maybe you would like to take a walk on the ground level first? but something i should tell you... the ground level was in SL at my land there for almost 3 year, so some of you probably already saw it there, and mythologies is currently in SL as well btw. I build here and some of it gets taken to SL later.

Forest Azure: i should have a look, i'm having a holiday in sl

FeliX Ringtail: i have more here, obviously -no prim restriction, no upload fees, so i build everything here.

Alan Scot: would u call this Stylised ?

Thirza.Ember: In SL, you are Alpha Auer, of course... if people are looking for you

FeliX Ringtail: yes in SL i am Alpha Auer, and quite a few other people as well, jointly known as alphatribe

Forest Azure: /me wonders who the alpha of that tribe is

Alan Scot: where did u get all this mesh?

FeliX Ringtail: i made all this mesh myself

Alan Scot: wow!

FeliX Ringtail: on this level, on the ground level, everything you see was made in Zbrush, by me; on the mythologies level everything is actually creative commons licensed stuff I got from Sketchfab

James Atlloud: Yes  - also great finds on Sketchfab! is Zbrush also a VR application?

FeliX Ringtail: no, it is 3D design software you make stuff with it, it is like blender, except different you play with this ball of clay

Franziska Bossi: like max3d or other 3d programs

Lavia Levine: Hopefully it's easier to use.

FeliX Ringtail: Zbrush is very easy once you get the hang of it, which doesn't take very long at all

Cherry Manga: Zbrush is focused on sculpting, when blender is more extrude like

FeliX Ringtail: the only downside is that Zbrush is very very expensive. I use it for free because my uni has a license -which I can use. I would not be able to afford it myself

Cherry Manga: Sculptris is the little one free from Zbrush

Tosha Tyran: but some older versions are free, because I have one and surely did not pay for it

FeliX Ringtail: yes, Sculptris is how I started, Cica Ghost put me on it

We arrived at a first scene, or tableau, set on a circular deck, with a faintly futuristic, oriental flavor to its roof. Inside, more delicious mesh by FeliX, this time in feline form, but don't be fooled.

FeliX Ringtail: nothing cat whatsoever about them, the cats are the owners, but they leave the humdrum ruling stuff to others, they just gorge themselves, and as you can see there is the kitchen staff bringing more food

Lavia Levine: Fat cats and Technocrats

FeliX Ringtail: off to the technocrats house

Cherry Manga: "serious-meeting-F-1-assembled" Those faces, head, look, they are awesome  ♥

FeliX Ringtail: well they are technocrats, so they look like technocrats

Tosha Tyran: lol, what cute faces... kissable

Forest Azure: the one in the back does look a bit catlike

Jupiter Rowland: It's worth looking at the screens, by the way.

From the techno-hut of the technocrats, we passed between the tatooed, damask hills, to a little trove of geometric elements.

FeliX Ringtail: and if we walk along here we get to Catustus, the cats' ancestor

Cherry Manga: you're the queen of graphics.

FeliX Ringtail: I need to build a proper temple, there was one in SL, never got round to it here. The whole island is a surveillance island that is why you have all the guards in the towers, and yes the surveillance strategies are on the screens around the technocrats, to meet the poker players and the philosophers and kokopelli

Wizardoz Chrome: I love this "meeting" of "creatures" :) :)

The Innocents

Lavia Levine: They're the one's being snookered by the fat cats and the technocrats right?

FeliX Ringtail: Lavia - yep, exactly - that's the essence of the tale... they are obliged to hold the phones all the time, which is OK for them, they don't know anything else anyway

The Kokopelli

FeliX Ringtail: so this here is kokopelli and his band of men and dogs kokopelli is of course the trickster god, so these are the ones that deceive you 

Cherry Manga: very happy group

Toy Boy: Are the politicians?

FeliX Ringtail: no they are the media, they are essential for the whole system to work

Lavia Levine: I thought they looked a little like rats.

Unadecal Arado: this is all like some sort of weird dream. I love it!

Jupiter Rowland: Playing vuvuzelas even...

FeliX Ringtail: journalists, social media, tv, the whole shebang.  In this story there are no longer politicians, they're obsolete. Instead, there are technocrats

James Atlloud: something about these dancers reminds me of the Beatles' Nowhere Land

Lavia Levine: This is all really cool Felix - very imaginative

The Philosophers

FeliX Ringtail: so these are the philosophers, but in this world there is no longer a need for philosophy, so all that is left for them is to sit around and gossip, and the piggies in the back are listening in.

Cherry Manga: poetry

Tosha Tyran: they really look like ones, yes

Lavia Levine: Let me guess, the Technocrats handle the philosophical issues too?

FeliX Ringtail: yes of course Lavia

Cherry Manga: incredible how your story is sharp, hard, and the sculptures are so sweet and poetic, it's masterpiece

Toy Boy: Agree on that

FeliX Ringtail: now let us walk over to the teddy bears,,, some wading will be needed ;-)

Thirza Ember: lucky i have my boots

The Teddy Bears

 FeliX Ringtail: so, there are some things that are on these islands, because the innocents should never know about them, it will confuse them you see? and they may get dangerous ideas

Lavia Levine: What, like thinking for themselves?

FeliX Ringtail: which will stop them from being "safe", so these are kept hidden from them. They are: childhood, aka the teddy bears; art, we will get to that in a bit; and inspiration. So these things are away from the big island

Lavia Levine: The place where the dreams have all gone.

Fatso, tooting his horn

FeliX Ringtail: let us now go to art, which is embodied by Fatso the flute player, he has a wolf for an audience. In SL I had music for these stations, very nice solo flute for Fatso, pity i don't really know how to use sound in opensim, it really is needed for this. A fat, low key.

James Atlloud: I can imagine it,  7/4 time.

FeliX Ringtail: and now we can go over to the three graces. 

FeliX Ringtail: One of the thigs that is hidden from the innocents is also "beauty" - strictly forbidden, so the 3 graces are also away

The Muses

Thirza Ember: and the sheep?

FeliX Ringtail: well the three graces always had sheep in mythology didnt they?

Gilbert Mabire: Les moutons dans la toison d'or?

FeliX Ringtail: OK now back to the main island. There is one thing that is also hidden, but it is still on the main land, because the cats and the technos do need to get in touch with these types

Hidden... in plain sight

James Atlloud: ?? curious

Forest Azure: ah, fate?

FeliX Ringtail: these are the poker players aka, the big corporations, the business world. the financiers

James Atlloud: money - sigh

The Poker Players

Mal Burns: I know this scene lol

FeliX Ringtail: it is all about gain and money and thats it for the ground level, there is one more thing that I haven't shown you, that is the fat lady, but her you will have to find yourself

Mal Burns: does she sing?

Forest Azure: depends on how fat she is

FeliX Ringtail: she did in SL. Here, sadly no. She is the way out of this mess, but you have to look for her.

An adventure for another day - we swept up via teleport to the upper world, a far more linear, marble-sharp domain. 

Even the tp devices are sharp little pyramids - perfectly thought out to be unobtrusive at ground level, and a keen-edged complement to the geometry in the sky.

Here be dragons, specimens or statues or something in between, seething with exquisite metallic menace.

FeliX Ringtail: there's no story here, just stuff ... 

FeliX Ringtail: There is one place that i would like to take you to however and that is called Artemis, I am sort of proud of that one.  Again, there is no story or anything, just a little garden for Artemis, or Diana as she was called by the Romans.

Garden of Artemis

Gilbert Mabire: thanks for your invitation

Thirza Ember: it is glorious here FeliX.  I think I speak for all when I say, it's a place to visit over and over. the story and the art - there is just so much here to enjoy, and to share

Jupiter Rowland: One of those places where you can easily spend hours.

Toy Boy: Work of art

Gilbert Mabire:  We're in Greece Sculptures are great. La Grèce quoi! Diane etc

FeliX Ringtail:yes, it should be like Greece, or the Aegis actually - we have the same sort of landscape and culture on this side as well

We said our farewells on the ground level once again. We were all delighted by the harmonious combination of Found items - meaning mesh imported from places like Sketchfab - with original mesh made by FeliX.

FeliX Ringtail: well the found stuff is really what it is about. I saw these things on sketchfab, and that gave me the idea to make a place for them. I am making my own things now, i am back to that, but i am just playing around. There is no "story" or anything although, I may make an amusement park, i like making those... so i am making creatures right now,  different ones, but it will be a while before i know what i am doing

Cherry Manga: So happy ShapeShifter is back in OS, wonderful work Alpha :))

Alex Salamander: great work

Toy Boy: Compliments, keep playing :)

Thirza Ember: it has been lovely!

FeliX Ringtail: likewise thirza, glad you all came, check out the shop people, all freebies. I am remaking some of the alphatribe stuff, adding mesh

James Atlloud: true true!  So much work ! Thank you Felix

Alex Salamander: Thank you very much

Forest Azure: thank you! so great!

FeliX Ringtail: thank you for coming all

HG Address: hg.osgrid.org:80:Shapeshifter

 hop://hg.osgrid.org:80/ShapeShifter/109/154/397